It seems that German citizens are less than enthusiastic about buying electric cars, so the government is increasing and extending financial incentives to stimulate them to do their duty.
If these new measures prove ineffective, I would expect more coercive strategies. Such as outlawing private ownership of internal combustion vehicles, for example — that would do the trick.
Many thanks to Hellequin GB for translating this article from the German public broadcasting service:
Ministry of Transport
Wissing has the billion-euro expansion of electric car premiums checked
According to a report, Federal Transport Minister [Volker] Wissing [FDP] wants to extend the purchase premiums for electric cars.
The Handelsblatt reports, citing a government report, that the FDP politician wants to keep the subsidies for purely battery electric vehicles or fuel cell cars until 2027. According to the coalition agreement, the premiums should actually expire in 2025. According to the report, Wissing is also committed to an expansion: under the plans, anyone who buys a car with a maximum purchase price of €40,000 should receive a subsidy of €10,800 instead of the previous €6,000. For more expensive vehicles, the ministry is planning a bonus of €8,400 instead of the previously promised €5,000.
This message was broadcast on Deutschlandfunk on May 9th, 2022.
Afterword from the translator:
Well, well, well…This looks to me that the sale or purchase of e-cars does not seem to be taking off as hoped and the e-car is developing more into a slow seller? This shouldn’t come as a surprise, given the rising electricity prices, the short range, the problems in cold weather, the long charging times, the scarcity of public charging stations and the risk of fire.
A friend of mine from my old hometown, who works for the Stadtwerke Bliestal (electricity supply), and who’s a member of the volunteer firefighters, told me a few years back that they do not want to go to accident sites — even fender benders — when there’s an electric car involved in the accident, because of the strong possibility of a sudden explosion of the battery. He also told me at the same time that in town there are two public charging-stations and only three private charging-stations allowed in homes, because if there were a fourth private one, and all were being used at the same time, the whole electrical grid of Blieskastel and the surrounding villages would collapse. Needless to say he’s very ANTI e-car.
Sehr gut!! Ich bin damit vollige einverstanden. Es ist schade das elektrice wagens so teuer sind. Ich bin ein Berliner!!
[Message from the moderator: This is an English-language blog. Please use English in your comments, or include a translation.
Machine translation:
Very well!! I totally agree. It’s a pity that electric cars are so expensive. I am a Berliner!!]
Is he sure he isn’t a jelly donut?
I like the jokes in this article.
1) Those cars are expensive. I am myself at the lower end of wages and I could never afford an electric car even with the raised subsidy. If they were cheaper than an ICE car, then it would be different, but that leads to
2) FIRE!! I have seen to many articles were such cars spontanously turned into fire and smoke. So I wouldnt want to put them in my garage as I would fear that the house where I live would be a victim of such a fire and I cherish my personal property. And because of the cold in winter and fear of thieves etc I want to put my car in a garage, but if its an electric car, I want a garage that is, lets say, 200 meters away from my flat. Minimum.
3) Where do I get the power and does it stay cheap?
I am not one of the deluded greens that can only think to the wall, where the opening is to plug in your appliances. I know that somewhere the power must be produced and we need a stabile source – and wind and sun are definitely NOT stabile!
So, I think in the end we will be forced by high taxes and outlawing of ICE cars to walk. And the WEF will be happy. After we have lost our cars and therefore our independence from the state, we have to thank the state and be closer to owning nothing and being happy.
Now the only thing missing will be the required daily doses of Soma, but hey, there are other substances to make us happy. And the side effects – deadly, too – I think Fauci, Lauterbach, Gates, Soros will approve.
The battery technology is simply not up to it. What’s the better solar panel with better energy storage solution? A Chinese made solar panel – or a tree?
They wouldn’t be able to pull this off without the CO2 will kill us all global warming panic.
If we didn’t live under arrested development conditions, I bet we’d be driving turbine cars that run on any burning fuel you give it. Instead they force feed us, Europeans, with 0.9 litre three cilinder engines which are very sensitive to fuel quality, so that you better buy that quality fuel or else…
1963 Chrysler Turbine: Ultimate Edition – Jay Leno’s Garage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2A5ijU3Ivs